AIDC 2018: “Do the exact opposite!”
If you want to create a hit TV show, here's a tip that may hold the key.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under News
Some of the most successful entertainment & reality shows owe their success to shaking up current formats.
Seasoned producer Marion Farrelly (pictured, right) told the Australian International Documentary Conference putting a twist on a familiar format has helped carve out hit shows.
“What is different about your show? We always say to people, ‘Do what everyone else is doing, but do the exact opposite,'” she explained.
“On a dating show you meet someone and develop a relationship and hopefully, one day you might get married.
“But Married at First Sight does the exact opposite. The first time you meet that person, you get married to them. And then you say if you want to go on a date! It’s insane. It’s wonderful.
“I made The X Factor forever and we were the number #1 show. We were literally smoking cigars, patting ourselves on the back.
“Then The Voice came along and we thought ‘We’re fine!’ But they killed us because they did the exact opposite.
“We had Mel B going ‘Go on, impress me.’ They had Ricky Martin & Delta Goodrem fighting for the plumber who could sing, saying ‘I’ll take care of you…’
“Do the opposite!”
Farrelly, who featured in ABC’s Reality Check, currently runs industry consultancy firm Mischief Sisters with Alison Black (pictured left).
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- Tagged with Married at First Sight, Reality Check, The Voice, The X Factor
3 Responses
Does that first sentence say that this is a “documentary conference”? Why are these women talking about competition shows?
sorry…second sentence.
A few points on this. Reality has it roots in Documentary anyway. The session was on pitching skills. The rules are not much different if you are pitching drama / reality / doco etc. and they have plenty of experience. It was a random comment I pulled out for this story because I thought it was quite novel and readers would appreciate.